TRADITION OF MAYHEM - Curated by Marna Hill

Courtesy of the artist, Catherine Wagner, and Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco

Artist Statement

Reparations

These photographs address ideas of reparation and repair through the metaphor-rich
object of the splint. From crudely carved wooden slabs to high-tech, molded polymer
forms the splint references both injury and health; harm and healing. This is a response to
the perpetual presence of images of war. These photographs reference physical traces of
efforts to heal physically, culturally, and spiritually.

Each of the objects photographed was constructed to repair a fissure or fracture. They
were designed to map onto the human body; to support its recovery and repair or to act as
an anatomical extension to a broken body. As such, these splints and prostheses are
corporeal traces, clues to various processes of reparation.

The passage of time and changing attitudes towards medicine and technology can also be
read through these objects' materiality. Their aesthetic derives from the attitude of the era
of their creation. This work speaks to both changing means in coping and our remarkable
resilience as humans and as a society.